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In this jam-packed episode, we run through updates on still active news stories, discuss some current cool and not so cool things from the last two weeks, and check out a hyped anomaly that probably wasn’t as described. Closing out the episode is a great conversation about what transpired at Cryptid Con 2017 – a…

This shorter episode is heavy on the theme of “people really believe this stuff” and why that’s not something to scoff at. I (Sharon) am off to attend a cryptozoology event this weekend that might prove to be a bit weird. I also express some thoughts about the years worth of content on Doubtful News…

This episode, Sharon and Torkel discuss several recent news events and how they reflect on social views of science and credible sources. First, an eclipse recap: Nothing bad happened and we were not overwhelmed by alien or occult forces. The Hopkinsville aliens did not reappear. New Age spiritualism at a Mt. Shasta festival The media…

From my personal blog: I wonder about this site’s place in the world of fake news and what happens to it now that I can’t keep up with the deluge. What happens to ‘Doubtful News’? – Sharon A. Hill If you have thoughts about preserving the content of the site or making it more useful…

There are a whole lot of shenanigans to call out on this episode. We have a special commentary by Jeb Card about the spooky stuff in association with Hopkinsville, Kentucky and the upcoming eclipse. Listen to get a primer for what might be popular in the media from now until then. Torkel and I discuss…

Mummies, aliens, and alien mummies. It’s a strange strange world out there… News chat: 70th anniversary of Flying Saucers “Anonymous” needs to be ignored. Their goofy (and boring) claims are baseless and should not be considered “news”. Real people have to waste valuable time debunking this s**t. Gwnyeth’s GOOPy stickers Gizmodo was the first to point out…

UPDATE: As I said originally, with a number of very ignorant people insulting me for it, the mummy has been deemed to be a hoax by experts who say that it is clear real mummies are being manipulated to look strange and exotic by adding extra bones. See the addition below the original story. You…

News items: A news blast from the paleo world made top science headlines this week saying the great and powerful T. Rex is unfeathered. Read the study that caused the news headlines and controversy. Washington Post piece Fantastic feathers Some paleobiologists said “told ya”! Others not so much. Check out this video by Trey the…

Another typical story from local news where a resident is reporting a strange animal and the reporter dramatically jumps on the story, taking the assumption of the witness as the headline. In all probability, it’s just a dog! UPDATE: Wildlife officials did what they were supposed to do and tested for size. They determined it…

We discussed the pressing issue of educating the younger generation by teaching them critical thinking skills in Episode 18 of 15 Credibility Street. Now, you can do your part very easily. The new movie Principles of Curiosity is out. Share it with any and all teachers you know from elementary to college level. Tell them…

A local man says he heard noises and took a cell phone video that appears to capture something moving in the trees. The local news interviewed the wildlife officials who seem to suggest it’s an ape. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is investigating after a mysterious, ape-like creature was captured on cellphone video…

News items: Crystal healing at Edith Cowan Uni in Australia. Kudos to the Australian Skeptics to making their views crystal clear on these bogus claims about healing properties of rocks. Electrosensitivity UK makes doubtful claims. Electrosensitivity UK is a nonprofit organization that placed advertisements in public places around London claiming “More and more research is starting…

I posted links to the false claims of a conspiracy surrounding the death of Seth Rich on the Facebook page over the past few days: How the Murder of a D.N.C. Staff Member Fueled Conspiracy Theories – The New York Times Gingrich spreads conspiracy theory about slain DNC staffer – The Washington Post Fox News…

A pair of skeptical scholars pulled off a hoax publication (in, dare I say it, a “dick” move) to expose problems with the field of gender studies and, ultimately, the peer review and publishing process for scholarly journals. Peter Boghossian and James Lindsay wrote “3,000 words of utter nonsense posing as academic scholarship” and had…

What a crazy news week it was. We start on a sad note. News items: Dead whale/giant squid – Even the natives don’t recognize weird dead things. New Nessie hoax Who was Tim Dinsdale? Correction to the podcast info: Dinsdale’s film was from Foyers, not Urquhart Bay. I am misremembering a video from this location.…

See June 04, 2017 update below The Mutual UFO network headquarters issued a “non-pology” saying they can’t police people’s personal views after PA Director, John Ventre, posted a racist rant on his personal Facebook page about a Netflix series. Note the five “likes” on this post. UFOlogy is dominated by conspiracy ideas and run almost…

A new and interesting “fish fall” report comes out of Oroville, California this week. News stories conflict about what actually happened but here is the best report from a local news team. According to witnesses at the Stanford Avenue Elementary school in Oroville, just before noon, teachers and children noticed the playground area was strewn with…

Update (7 July 2017): Snelling has dropped the lawsuit because the Park Service reversed their decision. A young earth Creationist, Dr. Andrew Snelling, is suing the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, in a civil rights action, stating that he was unlawfully restricted from doing geological work in the Grand Canyon national park…

UPDATE It looks for all intents and purposes that this was a deliberate hoax. Someone has manufactured a fake Nessie “head”. Dick Raynor appears to have found what was left. Earlier this month a video was published showing Nessie swimming towards the south shore of Urquhart Bay. Monster huggers continue to speculate as to its biological…

It’s big, blubbery and looks like a whale. But let’s all panic and call it “mysterious” and a “monster”, shall we? At first, the mass that washed up on the Indonesian island of Seram in Maluku was called a “giant squid”. But it looked nothing like a squid. It had bones and no tentacles or…